


Those Sleepless Nights

by Bythoseburningembers



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Horror, Hurt/Comfort, Space Dad Shiro (Voltron), Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-06
Updated: 2018-12-06
Packaged: 2019-09-13 02:37:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16884054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bythoseburningembers/pseuds/Bythoseburningembers
Summary: Another Pidge-style, late night in the lab quickly spirals into a fight for survival when an intruder invades the Castle of Lions. With several members of their team trapped or missing, Pidge and Allura struggle to keep their friends alive and find the stow-away before it destroys them all.





	Those Sleepless Nights

**Author's Note:**

> Don't blame me, I like starting titles with "Those," ok? Anyway, hope you guys like this one. Its more family bickering than horror, but I thought I'd add the suspense to tickle my fancy.

Pidge’s record for time spent awake was seventy-two consecutive hours.

It didn’t matter what the doctors said. The human body could be stretched to great limits if one was motivated enough, and Pidge had always had a deep well of motivation.

Especially where her family was concerned.

Not that the worriers aboard the Castle -ie, Shiro and Hunk – would fall over in sympathy for her. They insisted that she needed at least six hours. At least. As if that wasn’t valuable time she would be wasting. Which was why, to avoid their immediate displeasure should she be caught, Pidge had elected to nudge herself under the metal slab that acted as her usual lab station. It was quite comfortable anyway, and whoever wandered into the lab would be unable to see her unless they searched.

That was why, on hour thirty of no-sleep, Pidge was shocked when a round face suddenly metabolized from the dark. She jumped so high that she banged her head against the bottom of the desk, shrieking.

“Ah! I haven’t even been awake that long…!” she shouted, rubbing the huge bruise forming on her temple. The excuse died in her throat when the shadow cleared her throat pointedly. “Wait… Allura?” She held up her tablet to let the light illuminate the space. Lo and behold, it was Allura standing there, an inquisitive look on her face as she peered into Pidge’s corner with wide eyes.

“Hello, Pidge,” Allura greeted, merely. Her hair undulated down her back, the tips glowing blue where they caught wisps of light from Pidge’s screen. She was wearing a thin pink robe that covered her knees. Otherwise, she was barefoot.

Pidge blinked, taken aback. It wasn’t as if she had never spoken to Allura before. In fact, the princess seemed overly eager to befriend her human team, but it was rarely one-on-one. Usually she interacted with them as a group, asking questions and listening to their bickering with all the patience of a saint. Or the calculated mind of a devil, Pidge hadn’t decided yet.

“Uh… Hi? What are you doing up?” She asked.

“I couldn’t sleep,” Allura admitted, without a trace of emotional distress. Pidge had noticed that. Except for when they were dealing with the Galra, Allura was calm and cheerful outwardly, reluctant to demonstrate any sign of rage or disappointment. “What are you working on?” Pidge blinked out of her stupor to glance back at the screen. It continued to flash sequences.

“You’re not here to tell me to go to bed, right?” She demanded suspiciously. Allura smiled softly, hugging herself.

“I’m not Shiro,” she replied, dryly. The statement surprised a laugh from Pidge because _finally,_ someone wasn’t trying to protect her again.

“Don’t get me wrong. He’s nice and all,” Pidge explained, just in case Allura should misconstrue her question for criticism. “Its just he can be… Uh…”

“Overbearing at times?” Allura finished, with a fond grin. “I know the type. Coran is the same way. They care deeply, but we can take care of ourselves and them quite without assistance. So, what are you working on?” Pidge nodded, pleased to know that she wasn’t the only one to feel that way. She hummed noncommittally, tapping at the face of her screen to bring it back online. In her fright, she hadn’t noticed as it flicked off.

“I’m going through all the data we’ve collected from the Galra,” she replied, pressing the pause button. The numbers slid to a slow halt, as if reluctant to obey. Pidge smiled. Sometimes machinery was as stubborn as she was.

“Looking for what?” Allura inquired. The smile on her face dropped, and her heart gave a stubborn tug in the direction of the bridge. She was in a giant space ship. She could control a flying lion. Why wasn’t she out there? Why hadn’t she found them yet?

“My dad and brother,” Allura nodded, as if she had expected this.

“Would you like some help?” Pidge perked up. It hadn’t occurred to her to ask Allura for help yet. She had gone to Coran a couple of times, but even his knowledge was limited. _I guess I just assumed whatever Allura knew, Coran would know more,_ she supposed, suddenly energized.

“Sure. Can you read Galran?”

Allura’s expression dropped into somberness. “A bit.”

Pidge’s heart skipped a beat. Damn it. “I’m sorry,” she said immediately. “I forgot that they… You don’t have too.”

“No, no!” Allura blurted. “It is a painful memory, but once Altean’s and Galrans were such good allies we were expected to speak their language fluidly. I’m afraid I wasn’t much of a student, something that I regret now, but if I can help you save your family, then I’m willing to try,” Pidge relaxed.

“Thank you.”

Allura pulled a seat over, eyes hardening with determination. “Tell me what we’re looking for,” the inclusion of we suddenly made Pidge’s heart contract. Though the others had all expressed their sincere support to help Pidge locate her dad and brother, none of them had so far been able to contribute much. Sometimes, the sheer weight of that responsibility threatened to drown Pidge.

She was glad to have a true ally, at last.

“Ok, so according to Shiro, each slave gets a serial number. His was on his left shoulder,” Pidge shivered involuntarily, thinking of the puckered skin and blackened nerves around the branding site, such a stark contrast that it had looked grotesque. “And I figure if my dad and brother were brought in at the same time, that means they must have similar serial numbers, right? So this is a list of the numbers and where they are,” Allura squinted.

“Everyone?”

“I don’t think so,” Pidge admitted. “So far as I can tell, it looks as if the lists are relative to a specific area. This is a list of all the slaves in the Galra quadrant we just took down. Roughly around four thousand people,” Allura nodded.

“So you want to know where they are?”

“And where this list is in comparison to the grand list, you know? There must be one. I think that’s what this string of words up top mean, but I can’t be sure…” Allura nodded, scooching closer. Pidge handed her the tablet, stomach clenching itself to knots.

“Here, let me…”

And that was when the alarm sounded. Pidge’s heart leapt from her chest and bounded from the room screaming in mortal terror because fuck, that was loud. “Oh, c’mon!” Pidge cried as she and Allura jumped from their seats. The ceiling flashed red as the claxon shrieked angrily, its echo bounding from the metal walls. “What now? Its, like, two o clock in the morning wherever we are!”

Allura suddenly snatched her arm in a numbing grip, paling. “That’s the intruder alarm,” she breathed. “There is someone aboard the ship!”

As if the universe had heard (and decided _nope, fuck you bitches_ ) the alarm suddenly went quiet. The red continued to flare along the walls, but without sound it was just creepy. Pidge inhaled a sharp breath. “Damn it,” she growled. That was most definitely not supposed to happen.

She grabbed Allura’s hand, half to make sure she didn’t lose her and half because she hated how creepy this whole situation was. “Come on. We have to get the others.” For the first time, Pidge wished that she wore her armor to bed with her, or even had her bayard on hand.

 _I’m never making fun of Keith and his stupid habit of keeping knives ever again,_ she thought. She dragged Allura through the ship toward the Paladin’s rooms. When Allura had first suggested that they all live in the same hallway, Pidge had balked. There were hundreds of rooms in the castle. They could all have a separate _wing_ if they wanted, but in the months since, she had come to understand the wisdom in living near the other Paladins.

When her thoughts began eating her alive at night, it was always a comfort to hear Hunk’s wheezing snores in the night or Lance’s soft humming as he brushed his hair. She and Hunk had even established a system of Morse Code, and Lance consistently stopped by her room to rant, ramble or rave about their adventures.

After she had written those Comics for Keith’s Birthday, he had taken to visiting her sometimes, either to discuss some plotline in the books or to show her his own drawings. Shiro stayed to himself when he wasn’t nagging them; but having him close was still comforting in a weird little sister kind of way.

She and Allura stopped outside Hunk’s room first, scowling. The door was still closed, and the red light blinking just below the knob indicated that it was locked. “Hunk!?” She called, banging against the hard metal.

“Pidge!” Was the instant reply, muffled. “Pidge is that you?”

“Yeah! What are you still doing in there? Didn’t you hear the alarm!?”

“I can’t get out!” Pidge’s blood froze.

“What?”

“Pidge!” That was Lance, his own voice even further away as he started pounding against his door from the inside. “Pidge are you there!? Let me out!”

“We’re here, Lance!” Allura answered, tapping at his door. She sounded much calmer than Pidge felt, which was good. Because they did not need to panic right now.

“Princess! Are you alright?” Pidge rolled her eyes, dropping to one knee so she could peer closely at the lock mechanism in Hunk’s door. Of course Lance would worry about his crush.

“Pidge and I are fine. How long has your door been locked?” Allura replied, somehow managing to ignore Lance’s obvious adoration. She studied the slot where the door slid in and out of place curiously, huffing.

“Beats me. I never lock it. I woke up when the alarm went off, but my door won’t open no matter how often I push the button. Hell, I’ve tried prying it open with a piece of my armor and it still won’t budge.”

Well, at least Lance had his armor. That was surprisingly shrewd of him.

“Same goes for me,” Hunk agreed. “Hey, has anyone heard from Keith or Shiro?” Pidge was already standing before he had finished the question, sprinting over to Keith’s door.  
Thankfully, her terror was unfounded.

“I’m here,” Keith reported, sounding more than a little frustrated. “And also stuck.”

“I’ll overlook your language this time Lance,” Shiro agreed from his door at the far end. Pidge stifled a laugh. “Princess, what was that alarm?”

“The intruder alarm,” Allura answered gravely. “There’s someone in the castle.”

Shiro hummed thoughtfully. “They must have hacked the ship’s computer. Pidge, can you…?”

“Already on it. I’ll need my pad from the lab, though.”

“You shouldn’t go alone,” Allura decided, abandoning Lance’s door. Her eyes weren’t the lest bit frightened, more… Vengeful. Like she had been personally slighted by someone hacking her ship, which Pidge supposed made sense, but damn.

She was terrified.

“We don’t have any weapons,” Pidge pointed out, shifting weight from foot to foot worriedly. Allura scowled.

“Wait! I have something!” Keith yelled. There was shuffling behind his door, a thump and vicious curse, but a second later, two thin objects slid from beneath his door. Pidge caught a glint of jagged edges and scoffed a laugh, kneeling to run her fingers over the strong handle.

“Really, Keith? How many knives do you have in there?”

She handed one to Allura, who just sighed. “Keith! Are you stealing my kitchen knives again!?” Hunk demanded.

“We’ve talked about this, Keith,” Shiro sighed in his disappointed dad voice.

“Its not my fault!”

“Dude, you have, like, an unusual love of knives. And you lived alone. In a desert. For a year. Are we sure you aren’t a serial killer or something?”

“If I am, shouldn’t you be afraid of me Lance?”

“Nah. Shiro would never forgive you if you murdered his favorite son. Right, Shiro?”

Said dad ignored his supposed favorite son. “Pidge, Allura, take the knives and hurry. I don’t like the idea of you two being out there with whoever is on board the ship alone. Be careful,” he ordered.

“Why aren’t you answering my question, space dad?”

“Focus, Lance…” Shiro lowered his voice. “Pidge, get me out of here. I beg you,” he mock whispered. Pidge snorted.

“You got it. We’ll be right back,” she promised.

“Be careful!”

“Keep hold of those knives!”

“Bring me back a sandwich, please!”

“No.”

“For the love of… Focus, Paladins. Focus.”

She and Allura headed back the way they had come, the echoes of continued bickering following them down the hall. Somehow, it helped Pidge remain calm. “You Earthlings are strange,” Allura mumbled at her side, wide eyes searching the shadowed hallways warily.

“Not all of us are that weird,” Pidge assured her. “Really, its just those guys…” Her hands hovered over the darkened table, trying to catch a glint of glass by the red light of the alarms. “Got it!” She breathed.

Having the stable and cold metal made warmth flood through her limbs. Matt would have made fun of her, but Pidge had always felt safest behind a screen, as if she were at her most powerful with the strength of numbers between her fingers. _I can do this now._ “Let’s go!”

By the time they found their way back to the rooms, Pidge was already tapping hurriedly at her keyboard, following the sound of Allura’s footsteps more than her actual body.

“Ok, I found the hacker,” she reported crisply. It hadn’t even taken her two minutes. Amateurs. “They’re still in the system, whoever they are.”

“Pidge…”

“I think I can kick them out. Just give me one…”

“Pidge!” Allura’s fingers dug into her shoulder, making Pidge hiss and scramble from beneath her grip. Before she could demand what the Princess wanted, however, Allura was running down the hall toward the bedrooms. Pidge sniffed indignantly, and instantly cupped her mouth and nose as she gagged. The hallway reeked of rotten eggs, the scent hot and heavy in her lungs.

_What the hell…?_

“Hydrogen sulfide,” she realized in a horrified whisper. Nearly dropping the pad in her haste, Pidge ran down the hall, hammering against Hunk’s door. “Hunk! Hunk, can you hear me?” A low moan was her only answer.

“Pidge! Allura, get the doors o-open! We can’t… C-can’t breathe…” Keith coughed, banging weakly against his door.

“Pidge!?”

“I’m working on it! I’m working on it!”

“Ohhh,” Allura murmured. “I hope Coran isn’t also locked in his room.” _I’m almost certain he was._ Coran wouldn’t have stayed inside his room after that alarm, and he would have either found them or… Been found by this time if he hadn’t been trapped. Pidge’s fingers flew across the keyboard, trying to override the failsafes the hacker had installed so that…

“No, no, no! He’s trying to kick me out!”

“Pidge, hurry!”

“I know!”

She bit her bottom lip, letting the fear spur her on. She had already lost one family. _Not this one,_ she raged. _I won’t lose this one too. Not now. Not ever._

With a decisive snap, Hunk’s door slid open. The others followed a second after. Pidge felt her breath leave in a whoosh of relief as Hunk, Keith and Lance crawled from their rooms, coughing haggardly. Shiro stumbled into the hallway, mouth hidden in his elbow as he collapsed against the far wall, gasping for breath.

Pidge knelt by Hunk, placing a hand against his brow. His skin was warm to the touch, tight as he lay wheezing for air. He was only wearing a thin shirt and a pair of boxers. Pidge felt fury bubble beneath her skin. Whoever this… _Intruder_ was, they had attacked her friends when they were most vulnerable, striking them in their beds.

“Hunk? You good?” Hunk raised a shaky thumbs up.

“Oh, whoever did… This is gonna pay… big time. I-I was havin the most awesome dream!” Lance panted, tugging the sash of his robe tight.

“Oh yeah?” Keith croaked, slamming a fist against his chest violently. Always violently. Did he really think he was going to punch the putrid air from his lungs that way?  “What was it? That you could actually pilot like a rational human being?

“You know what Keith? Sometimes I think you’re cool. Then I remember you’re a lonely serial killer with a knife fetish…”

Whatever comeback Keith had planned was interrupted by the familiar whir of Shiro’s prosthetic powering up. “Look out!” He shouted, abruptly lunging to the side, as if to catch a run-away chicken. Pidge gasped as a sudden shadow slammed him against the wall. It bowled over Keith and Lance faster, screeching. Pidge held up her knife defensively, slashing at thin air.

“Allura, on your left!”

Allura pivoted on her heel and hacked at the shadow. There was a sickening crunch and a high-pitched scream of pain. Pidge heard clacking -almost like heels on a wooden floor- before a sudden gust of wind surged past her. Between one breath and the next, Pidge’s legs had been swiped from beneath her. She tumbled to her side, banging her head hard on the ground.

“Ow…” she moaned, dazed. “Did we win?”

“I’m afraid not,” replied Allura, the last badass of the Voltron team. “We seemed to have scared it off, and I may have injured it, but I don’t doubt it will return. Is everyone alright?” Hunk sat up. There was a slight tremble to his movements, but whether that was from injury or fear Pidge couldn’t tell.

She swallowed the bile crawling up her throat when Hunk stood on shaky legs, carefully helping leverage her up after him. “You good Pidge?”

She nodded. That bump on her head was really big now. “Yeah. Lance? Keith?” She asked as Allura wandered to Shiro’s side. Pidge couldn’t tell if he was conscious in the dim light. A shiver wracked her spine. Whatever this thing was, it was quick and silent.

“I’m still waiting for Shiro to verify my status as favorite,” Lance told them, dryly. Pidge rolled her eyes, though she couldn’t deny feeling reassured that Lance would never change.

Keith, by the ire in his voice, had also apparently escaped unscathed. “Lance, I swear to everything Holy, I am going to _sock you in the face_ …” he hissed.

“Boys!” Shiro snapped. “Would you please… Ouch!”

Pidge’s heart skipped a beat. “Shiro?”

“I’m alright,” Shiro breathed. Allura had an arm around his waist, helping level him upright. Keith was at his side in two strides. “Ouch… I think the intruder might have… Ugh… ruined my last good arm,” Shiro admitted ruefully.

“What do you mean? Is it broken?” Hunk asked.

Shiro huffed an exasperated sound. “I doubt it. It’s probably just… Ow!”

“It’s broken,” Allura reported apologetically. Lance shook his head.

“We have to get our armor and find this thing. And where is Coran?” He began, voice settling into seriousness.

“Right here.”

Pidge jumped backward so quickly she rammed into Lance, who had stumbled into Keith who positioned himself in front of Shiro whose Galra arm glowed an ominous purple, illuminating the stark terror on Hunk’s face.

 _Yeah,_ Pidge thought a little hysterically. _I hate my life._

“You’re getting a bell man!” Lance shouted. “For your safety and mine! Warn a person, would you?” Coran just shook his head. He held up a small white luminescent lantern in one hand. Pidge could see the mice settled on his shoulders, shaking imperceptibly.

Once more, fury settled in her bones. Even the mice were scared.

“Coran!” Allura cried with palpable relief. Coran’s severe expression dropped when he saw his charge. He raised an arm, allowing Allura to nestle against his side in a brief half hug, grinning. “Are you alright?”

Coran nodded. “I am, Princess. My door was locked when the alarm went out. I presume my release has something to do with you all?” He inquired.

“Pidge did it,” Allura agreed. “There’s an intruder. They broke Shiro’s arm.”

“It isn’t broken,” Shiro argued indignantly from where he tried to detach himself from Keith’s protective grip. “It’s _badly sprained._ I can fight.”

Keith's glare would have rivaled any experienced serial killer.  “No, you can’t,” he stated, countenance darkening.

“Sit down, fearless leader," Lance agreed. 

“You have one arm, man. _One._ Try to preserve it, would you?”

“Guys,” Pidge interrupted, before they could spiral into another argument. “The hacker is still in the system. They’re just sitting there now… Wait, a message is popping up…” Pidge leaned in, trying to catch a glimpse of the continuous code dashing across the screen. A familiar chain flashed in her purview off to the right. Pidge recoiled. “This, this doesn’t make any sense,” she stammered.

“What doesn’t?” Allura demanded. 

Pidge double checked to make sure she wasn’t seeing things. Nope. Still there. “They’re sending a distress signal?”

Keith’s voice was ruthless in its sarcasm. “ _They_ … are in distress?”

Pidge nodded. “It’s coming from a nearby planet. Whoever the hacker is, they aren’t on the ship,” and that just made this all kinds of complicated.  
Silence fell over them a moment.

At last, Lance voiced Pidge’s exact thought. “So _the fuck_ is on the ship?” He yelled.

“Doesn’t matter,” Shiro decided, cradling his broken arm with the prosthetic. “We need to find a safe place and then create a plan. We’re too vulnerable out here. Allura, where can we go?”

“The bridge has a lockdown mechanism. We should be safe in there.”

“Alright. Keith, grab some more knives. I want everyone armed. Don’t stray from the group.” Keith hurried back into his room and brought out the rest of his blade collection, passing them out solemnly. Meanwhile, Coran tore a strip of Shiro’s blanket and tied it around his shoulder in a makeshift sling.

“Good. Everyone ready? Let’s go.”

* * *

 

Pidge knew the castle was huge. Academically, she had processed that the labyrinth of hallways extended for miles; and had even estimated that if one were to lay the castle’s blueprints out flat, it would be the size of a small island.

Nevertheless, it had never seemed to take _so long_ just to get to the bridge. Every second of the journey they spent in silence, pressed close enough that Pidge heard air whooshing in and out of Hunk’s lungs, the firm thump of Allura’s bare feet against the floor. She had kept her head down, packed into the middle of the circle as she tried to trace the distress signal and unravel whatever the hacker had done to their systems.

Really, she was just keeping herself occupied.

The bridge was unusually creepy as they marched inside. Coran scampered to the dashboard, typing. A second later, the door behind them slammed shut. The heavy _gong_ of bolts sliding in place made Pidge’s shoulders unwind. The lights flicked on slowly.

“Ok,” Allura breathed, taking her standard place beneath the crystal. “We’re safe,” Lance collapsed into his seat with an exaggerated groan. Pidge nestled against her own seat, releasing a slow breath to ease the tension from her shoulders. Finally.

“Does it hurt?” Keith asked Shiro, hovering as their leader plopped into his own seat.

“Nothing I can’t handle,” Shiro replied, a bit absently. “Sit down, Keith. Pidge, what have you got?” Leave it to Shiro to be in excruciating pain and still go about giving orders. Like an asshole.

“I’ve narrowed down the distress signal’s location. It is literally coming from Drexyus,” she replied.

“What? Didn’t we just save them from the Galra?” Lance cried, flinging up his hands. “And now they’ve hacked the ship and are trying to _kill us_?”

“Totally not cool,” Hunk agreed.

“Coran, can you find any sign of the thing that attacked us on the security feed?” Shiro asked.

“Nothing now,” Coran replied. “Mainly because the security feed has been disabled. I do have footage from a few hours ago, though… Ah, this could be a problem.”

“What?”

“See for yourself.”

He transmitted the footage to their screens. Pidge squinted, noting that it was security from the hangar. She saw the Blue and Green lions swooping back into their hangars after the battle, the background noise of them yawning and weary congratulations muted. A second later, the Yellow Lion landed, and Pidge caught a dark shadow creeping along Yellow’s tail.

It quickly scurried off as the bay doors closed. As they watched, it sprinted to the side and vanished from the camera’s sight. “What the quiznack?” Keith demanded. “Hunk, how did you not see that?” It had looked a bit like a spider/ kangaroo hybrid, standing on two hunched legs but with so many spindly arms Pidge shuddered.

 _That_ was the creature that had attacked them?

"Honestly, I’m glad I didn’t notice it. I think I would have died on spot,” Hunk gulped.

“The cameras saw it, and yet no alarm was raised earlier. How?” Coran muttered.

Pidge tapped her chin contemplatively. “And where did it come from? We had just returned from a space battle! How could it have latched unto Hunk’s lion without anyone noticing?”

“The Galra,” Allura sneered. “That creature is called a ship feeder. They usually exist in parts of space where black holes are prevalent. They gain their name because they are extremely aggressive, and latch unto ships to eat their wiring.”

“So, during the battle, the Galra put that thing on my lion?” Hunk peeped.

“It would appear so. I still don’t know why the cameras wouldn’t have…”

“It probably ate through the wiring,” Pidge pointed out. “Because I can’t get the cameras back online right now. They started glitching seconds after that thing vanished. No wonder none of us noticed. It’s quiet and creepy.”

“At least we know its an animal,” Shiro stated. “It doesn’t have malicious intent, and it certainly can’t have hacked us. Now the question is, how do we beat it?”

“That scent!” Allura gasped, slapping her forehead. “I’m such a fool! Now I know why I recognized it. That gas coming from your rooms! It is commonly used to kill the beast!”

“That’s right!” Coran laughed. “We need only release the gas into the castle and flesh out the monster!”

“That gas? You mean _hydrogen sulfide?_ Its poisonous to humans!”

“Oh,” Allura peeped, looking stunned. “Really?”

“You couldn’t tell from how we were coughing and dying earlier?”

“It’s poisonous,” Shiro speculated. “But if it will kill this creature, then we don’t have a choice. Coran, can you gas every part of the castle but the bridge?” A nod. “Good, then let’s gas it out before it can do anymore harm. Then we’ll deal with that distress signal,” he planned.

Coran hummed an affirmative, swiftly turning back to the control to begin typing a series of numbers. Pidge tapped on the distress signal, returning an acknowledged transmission. The message filed away.

“Alright,” Coran breathed after a moment. “That should do it. The gas is being dissipated through the castle now.”

“The second we’ve verified that this thing is dead, Takashi Shirogane, you’re going into a pod,” Keith warned their leader. Shiro waved his prosthetic in a dismissive gesture, grinning.

“Ahh, my full name, huh? Guess I must be in trouble,” he teased.

“Shut up.”

“Besides, you won’t hear an argument from me. I don’t actually enjoy pain, you know.”

“Could have fooled us.”

Pidge relaxed into her chair. Things seemed to be settling back to normal. She glanced at Hunk, who looked as if he were ready to sleep. A gentle hand on her shoulder made her look up.

She smiled at Allura, who returned the gesture. “And we can keep looking for your family,” the Princess said. Pidge had to swallow against the lump in her throat. She reached up, squeezed Allura’s hand where it was on her shoulder. Matt was a great brother. Pidge complained about him, but not with any seriousness, but there had always been a part of her that had wondered what it might be like to have a big sister.

Now she knew.

“Thank you,” Pidge whispered.

At that moment, a long, high pitched whine echoed through the ship. Pidge inhaled sharply, swiveling in her chair as the scream bounced around in her ears. It lasted for a full minute before it just… Ended. Abruptly. She looked at Allura, who met her gaze with one equally as freaked out.

 _Good,_ Pidge thought. _It wasn’t just me._

They lapsed into terrified silence, broken only by the sound of Hunk’s heavy breathing and the mice skittering over the control panel. “Is it dead?” Keith whispered at last.

“Let’s… Er… Give it a few minutes?” Lance suggested. Everyone nodded quickly. Lance sprawled himself over the armrest of his chair in a fake show of bravado. “Shiro, you still haven’t said I’m your favorite,” he pouted. Shiro sighed.

“I don’t approve of this rivalry you two have over my attention, but… You’re my favorite Lance.”

“Ha!”

“That’s why I volunteer you to go check if the Ship feeder is dead when this is all over,” Keith’s bark of laughter made Pidge jump. But Lance’s shocked expression made her giggle. Hunk snorted, Allura hid her titters behind one palm and Coran just shook his head at their antics.

“What?! That’s not fair!”

“You wanted to be my favorite. What did you think that meant?”

“I don’t know! That you would be nicer to me or something!”

“Oh,” Shiro said, brows furrowing as if this had never occurred to him. “Well, that’s not it. Don’t worry, Lance, Keith will go with you.”

Keith shot up in his chair as if it had suddenly burned him. “Hey! What did I do?” He demanded, voice high with incredulous betrayal.

“Remember to take your knives,” Hunk broke in, tittering.

“Knife brothers,” Pidge wheezed past her laughter. “You can be knife brothers!”

Lance groaned dramatically. “Don’t lump me in with the serial killer!”

Keith crossed his arms, sporting a specifically sulky expression. “Lance doesn’t know how to butter bread, much less use a blade!”

“I feel as if I will never understand what any of you are talking about,” Allura sighed in exasperation. Coran nodded sadly.

“Hey, I just got another message from the distress beacon… Here, wait, they want to see us,” she glanced at Shiro for confirmation. He stood and came to stand beside Allura at her left shoulder, nodding.

Pidge brought up the video feed, and promptly recognized the face of Queen Gregaria, the matriarch of the planet they had just saved. The pinchers that made up her mouth were twitching with agitation. Pidge tried not to look at them too long.

“Your majesty,” Allura greeted coldly. “What is the meaning of this?”

“Princess Allura! Thank the heavens! We feared we might have been too late,” Queen Gregaria breathed, large, globular eyes blinking slowly with happiness. “The Galra are trying to destroy you. They sent a ship feeder…”

“We know,” Allura said. “We’ve found and started to neutralize the threat. How did you know?” Queen Gregaria’s pinchers clamped together rigidly.

“I’m afraid that Voltron did not frighten all the Galra from my planet. There have been two coups since you left. A few of the ships are returning, intent on enslaving us once more. When we interrogated one of their scum, he mentioned releasing a monster into your ship.”

Pidge smiled. “So why didn’t you just call us? Why’d you hack the ship?”

“My apologies. Our communications systems were knocked out during the last coup. They just now came back online. Still, I needed to do something to warn you, so I tried releasing the gas that would kill the creature. I’m sorry if I caused any distress…”

“Don’t be,” Shiro interrupted warmly. “Had you not, its possible this monster might have killed us all in our sleep. You saved us. Thank you, Your Majesty.” She dipped her head graciously.

“It is only a small measure of what we owe Voltron for freeing our planet. Though I fear the fight isn’t over yet.”

“Give us two varga,” Allura promised. “To flesh this creature out of our ship and reestablish security. Then, we will return and crush the Galra together.”

The Queen almost seemed to smile, if that were possible. “Our gratitude, Princess Allura. We will hold out until you arrive.”

“Stay safe.” The picture vanished as quickly as it had come.

Pidge leaned back in her seat. “Well,” Shiro began, straightening up. “You heard her, team. We have people to save. Lance, Keith, go check on that monster.”  
To her surprise, both stood and moved to obey the order without grumbling.

Pidge waved goodbye exuberantly. “Good luck, knife brothers!”

“Pidge, Coran, Allura, you work on getting the castle running at full capacity. Hunk, you and I…”

“Hunk, would you please escort Shiro to the healing pods?” Allura broke in, just as Keith opened his mouth. “When you return, we’ll check on the lions. With any luck, Shiro will be fully healed by the time the battle begins,” Shiro looked as if he were going to argue, but upon meeting Allura’s stern gaze, his shoulders slumped in defeat.

“I mean… Yeah. That’s a better idea,” he said, sounding as if he didn’t truly think so. Lance snickered in the background.

“Ooh, Shiro, you just got _told,_ ” he said, elbowing Keith in the ribs. The other boy grinned devilishly, crossing his arms.

“Does it burn, Takashi? Does it _burn?_ ” He inquired.

Shiro narrowed his eyes at them. “Do you two _want_ to run extra laps?” He threatened darkly.  
'

“Nope!” Hunk cried, surging to his feet. He quickly grabbed Shiro by the shoulders, steering him out of the door. “No. We’re leaving now,” Hunk decided in a vain attempt to rescue his doomed teammates.

“Good,” Allura replied, rolling her eyes as Keith and Lance followed them from the Bridge, mocking Shiro in exaggerated whispers. Pidge watched them go, smiling, before tapping at her screen once more. She always felt powerful and safe behind a screen.

But her family made her happy.

Allura folded her hands behind her back; and stared into the limitless stars of space. “Paladins let’s get back to work.”


End file.
